(Saw this question asked on another popular link aggregation website and it got me thinking)
If you could play one game for the first time all over again, what would you choose? This might be because you want to do it all again, or because you don’t think you got enough out of it the first time. It could be experiencing the game exactly as you were back then, or experiencing a game with what you know now.
For me, it’s Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, experienced exactly as I was back in 1991.
Nothing comes close to how jaw-droppingly amazed I was by that opening sequence. The epic orchestral score, the cinematic rainstorm, creeping around in the dark… it was a generational leap above anything I’d played on 8-bit computers and consoles, and even the Megadrive. I’d love to play it again without thirty plus years of Nintendo/Zelda knowledge, or without knowing about the dark world.
OUTER WILDS.
It’s a fantastic exploration game if you go in blind and I wish I could forget it all and explore it all again.
Yeah, it really was amazing to play blind. We especially enjoyed the DLC… when we first realised what it was all about, it nearly blew our minds!
Yeah, I’ve never wtf’d so hard in a game as when I entered the thing and left the other thing in the DLC.
That game was so well done and thought through.
What’s sad is that I know I will forget the lore and the journey on how I figured out how I got to the end. But I don’t think I’ll forget the specifics for the ending.
I’m shocked that this isn’t everyone’s answer tbh lol
Those are the people that haven’t played it yet.
Max Payne. The original game was just amazing and the story was incredible.
Sid Meier’s Civilization!
I know this is almost a stereotypical answer, but the Witcher 3. because after that game i went and read through all the books. so if i got to re experience it would be the difference of finding siri after 100 hours of gameplay and finding siri after 5000 hours of story. "find siri’ is Geralt’s primary motivation throughout the books. i can only imagine how satisfying and emotional that scene would feel for the first time with the weight of the books behind it.
Disco Elysium
The sheer joy of realising it’s not “just another” RPG, slowly pulling the curtain on how intricate the worldbuilding is, discovering the main character and in turn reflecting on yourself. It’s become a small addiction to watch first time streamers and let’s players for me, to vicariously relive that process.
Another candidate might be Ultima 7, the interactivity and how “real” it felt in the 90s was mindblowing for kid me.
Secret of Monkey Island. Like most adventure games you can only really play it once. It’d be nice to enjoy it again.
The Witness
Outer Wilds. You can’t even really replay it, not like you can other games. But boy, I will never forget the unbridled joy of unraveling its mysteries - and ironically, would love to so I can do it all over again.
Ultima Online. It was my first MMO. I could own a friggin house that other people could visit! I’ve been chasing that high for 20+ years now.
Ahhhh UO. Sitting on my llama in my prized neon sandles in front of the bank. Buying a white wyrm from someone and having it rampage because I couldn’t control it. Riding around in a boat with a polar bear trying to level up animal handling or whatever because you stopped getting xp if you were stationary too long… Good times lol. I used to have a whole bag of runes to glitch spots in the game 😎
Earthbound. It’s been my favorite game since I first rented it from blockbuster
Final Fantasy 7 or 9, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Phantasy Star Online
Earthbound. Even on my subsequent yearly-ish playthroughs, it’s so easy to get immersed into the beautiful quirkiness of the world.
Came here to say this one. It’s been ~30 years and there still isn’t another game that quite hits in the same way. The perfect combination of jrpg, weirdness, emotion, humor, horror/dread, and lightheartedness. Earthbound has it all.
I’m reading the book about Satoru Iwata and in it he talks about Earthbound and says (hardcore paraphrasing) that Earthbound on the surface has a lot of regular RPG conventions, but through a combination of its non gameplay aspects it becomes something incredibly unique that even today has very few comparisons.
I think this is a tie between Bloodborne and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Absolute masterpieces, both. I replay both of them at least once a year, but it would be wonderful to go back in fresh.
Probably Planescape: Torment
I’m gonna break the rules and name more than one.
Super Metroid
Link to the Past I beat it with my mom as a kid. I’d love to go back and just be a kid who loves his mom playing that game again.
Ocarina of Time My mom and I snuck and opened the Christmas present every evening after my dad went to bed. We were at the forest temple when I actually opened it for Christmas and pretended to be surprised.
Wind Waker I was so disappointed over the cartoon graphics I almost didn’t play it. Once the game won me over I fell in love with everything about it.
Twilight Princess My first Zelda as an adult living on my own. I bought it on GameCube and played it with my ex. We had no cable, no internet, no phone. It was the only entertainment we had (video games) and it was an experience that made us closer.
Symphony of the Night I just fucking love that game.
World of Warcraft I want to go back and play with my son. We did arenas and we were an unstoppable team. Some of the best nights of my life were spent side by side playing WotLK and Cata.
I could go on but someone is standing here bugging me now. Take care folks.
